Rachel Mellott Ms. Rice Honors English 1 18 April 2017 The Importance of Self-Deprecating Humor As Tina Fey learned throughout her life, being able to laugh at yourself is a key component to success. In her 2011 book, Bossypants, Tina Fey constantly pokes fun at herself, but in the best way possible. She discusses her childhood, her awkward stages of growing up, and some of her most embarrassing moments as an adult. By utilizing self-deprecating humor, Tina Fey makes her novel amusing and entertaining—something that contributed greatly to her success as a comedian. In Bossypants, Tina Fey explains, “Beauty experts in the 1970s
declared the shag the ‘most universally flattering haircut.’ The short layers in the front framed the face while irregular longer pieces in the back elongated the neck. I think this picture proves them right” (Fey 98). Fey’s joke—made at her own expense—about the picture at right, is an example of self-deprecating humor. She’s not calling herself ugly, she’s simply laughing at her chosen hairstyle, because it was rather unflattering. Later, Fey writes, “I should have known he and I weren’t going to make it when, for my seventeenth birthday, he gave me a box of microwave popcorn and a used battery tester. You know, to test batteries before I put them in my Walkman. Like you give someone when you’re in love” (27). In this passage, Fey is telling the reader that she didn’t have the best boyfriends growing up. This text is important to Fey’s character development, as can be seen later in the book, when Tina meets her husband. Because of Tina’s experiences with past boyfriends, she knew what qualities to look for in a man. Tina Fey also wrote, “Droopy brown eyes designed to confuse predators into thinking I’m just on the verge of sleep and they should come back tomorrow to eat me” (24). Here, Fey is describing some bodily features she is proud of. She then continues by describing even more of her unusual features, which she jokes about for comic relief. As an adult, Tina had her fair share of embarrassing moments. She describes one moment, in particular, when she fainted at her first gynecologist appointment, “even though no one was even touching me. I just went out like she hit a reset button. I’m surprised I didn’t wake up speaking Spanish like Buzz Lightyear” (18). Fey’s self-deprecating humor can be seen when she laughs at herself by likening her fainting spell to the Spanish-speaking Buzz Lightyear. As these excerpts have shown, Tina Fey was able to laugh at herself and her experiences several times throughout her novel, which has now sold millions of copies. Her self-deprecating humor allowed her to gain even more success—both as a comedian and an author. She made her life enjoyable to read about. As a successful comedian herself, Tina Fey would likely agree that being able to laugh at yourself is a key component to success, especially the success of her best-selling novel, Bossypants.
Amy Cunningham, an editor and author from New York, wrote an article “Why Women Smile” to emphasize on how women are no longer smiling because it is a natural thing, but rather an everyday habit. Coupled with Cunningham’s supported reasons by using logos and ethos, she also uniquely brings in her personal experience by having ethos, making her argument more relatable. A long side with that, societies’ past and present impact on today’s world about women was also included as Cunningham put her own take into proving her point. Although this may be true, there were some fallacies found in her argument leading it to lack of fully portraying the audience.
At one point Ellen DeGeneres got kicked off of a talk show, but it wasn’t for her performance, it was because she came out as lesbian and the talk show did not accept that. But instead of giving up, Ellen decided to take her career in her own hands by doing that she raised to fame years later. But how did she come from being at rock bottom to an inspiration to so many? It was a journey but in order to inspire, Ellen persuaded the audience to stay true to themselves by using pathos and ethos.
What is the most common perception held in this country concerning the people and the way they live in the South? The perception most of the country has about life down here in the South is one of slow-paced living, simple-minded people, and stubborn, unwarranted pride. One of the best ways to combat this perception is through the use of humor; Lewis Grizzard was one of the best at this, because he could take the experiences from his own life as well as the lives of others in the South and turn them into humorous semi-fictional stories. He was one of the preeminent fictional authors this country has ever seen because of his ability to connect with people and joke about everyday life in the south, without offending the subjects of those jokes, despite the popular opinion the rest of the country held.
“Confessions of a Juggler” is an article written by Tina Fey who is an American actress, comedian, producer, writer and a mother of one. Fey graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama. She is well known for her impressions of Sarah Palin on the popular TV show Saturday Night Live. In Fey’s article she states that “the topic of working moms is a tap dance in a minefield” which implies that it will not end well due to it being such a touchy subject. “Oh, Brother!” is an article written by Hara Estroff who is an author, journalist, and an editor. Although Estroff doesn’t have a degree in psychology she has been the editor at large of Psychology Today for 15 years where she has a regular advice column. In Estroffs article she implies that “Siblings are
Please Stop Laughing At Me by Jodee Blanco is an autobiography of her life during her time at school. There are many messages in this story. The one that is most overwhelming and powerful is the message about teenage and adolescent peer groups and the torment and social isolation that comes with not belonging to one of the right cliques.
Satirical humor entertains the audience so that the people appeal some jokes and comic ideas more enjoyable to visualizes. Satire demonstrates something very safe and also not very cynical to the society. Sometimes, satire can misunderstand people that some people find it's an insult to the politics.Satirical humor can also be a tool to communicate people, so people can learn and get involved more about issues in politics. There are some people like comedians that expresses satirical humor in politics. Also, some comedy shows that expresses political satire. For example, some of the famous comedians that I found funny in satirical humor will be James Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jon Stewart; they also host their satirical shows: The Colbert
Richard Pryor once said, “There’s a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at” (A-Z Quotes). Leon Rappoport, a professor at Kansas State University, believed in the same thin line as Pryor. Rappoport received his BA and MS at New York University, and completed his PhD in 1963 at the University of Colorado (Kansas State University). He studied psychological sciences, and concentrated his studies in decision making and human judgment, even writing a book called Punchlines: The Case for Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Humor (Kansas State University). In another book, The Sword and Shield Metaphor and Other Perspectives, Rappoport claims that humor depends on how the audience receives humor because humor depends on the individual and the experiences the audience has had. The audience can either be on the side of the audience that is getting laughed at, or they can be on the side of the audience that is laughing with other people.
Fey has never been afraid to use her full potential in any project or job she has worked on. She knows how to rule the workplace in a male dominated world. She also shows young people and even adults, that being different, being true to yourself, and loving yourself isn’t wrong, its beautiful. “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” (Fey, 145). She understands the struggles of body image and self-acceptance. Fey encourages determination and strong will to follow your path. “So my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this: when faced with sexism or ageism or lookism or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: "Is this person in between me and what I want to do?" If the answer is no, ignore it and move on” (Fey, 144). Fey is also a powerful advocate for the LGBTQ community, she has stated “I’m certainly more open-minded to people’s differences, and it definitely gave me a wider swath of humor styles. I grew up so much in theater, so the gay community has always been a natural part of who I feel like I’m playing to. When you’re writing jokes, you’re always thinking of your friends.” (Fey, 27-37) Fey donates not just her money, but endless hours of physical support to many charities such as, Autism Speaks, Red Cross,
Humor can come in many different forms. Many people are aware of the blatant humor of slapstick, but it takes a keener mind to notice the subtle detail in sarcasm or satire. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift was able to create a piece of literature addressing the faults of the Irish culture while embedding in a humorous essay. Swift’s satire allows for the gravity of the Irish standings to be exploited under the disguise of a proposal for economic benefit.
This essay is going to discuss about racism in comedy and in addition to that it is also going to look at whether it is acceptable for comedians to use certain racial words for example when black comedians use the word “Nigger”. Also it is going to look at how different audience put up with this kind of material, but first of all it is going to look at the actual word itself and where in the blue marble that we call earth it originated from.
Actress Jessica Lange once said, “The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your universe. You relinquish that position to your children. ” Lange’s statement implies motherhood comprises of selflessness, that women have a natural inclination to forswear their aspirations to assist their children to pursue their own. Nonetheless, other prevalent notions about motherhood share this same idiosyncrasy. Motherhood places the child’s needs above everyone else’s. Mothers who devote themselves to their children develop a large portion of their identities through their roles as mothers, sometimes to the point where they will do nothing else but raise their children. This is especially
According to Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern in Psychological Science, an effective to regulate emotion is through humor (430). Humor allows individuals to distance themselves from negative emotions and can strengthen social connections to others (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern 431). In Native American communities, laughter and humor are often utilized to cope with stereotypes imposed upon Native Americans by non-Native people. Illustrations of this occurrence can be found throughout works by Native peoples, such as that by Sherman Alexie. These sources involve Native Americans embracing, rebelling against, and bringing attention to stereotypes about who they are and who the can be, all while using humor to cope with the emotions involved
One definition of humor is "that which lends itself to laughing, smiling or amusement" (Davis-Evans, 2013). The effects of humor at the cellular level and on the immune system report positive effects on physical and mental health (Davis-Evans, 2013). Humor in nursing is about nurses relating to patients. There 's a bond created between people that laugh together, a bond when one makes another smile. Research suggests that laughter increases pain tolerance; improves respiration and breathing; improves mental functioning, including alertness, creativity a memory; and decreases muscle tension (Davis-Evans, 2013). These benefits can be short term and/or long term. Laughing can be compared to a mild workout, it increases circulation, decreases blood
The nature of comedy has always left it somewhat resistant to critical analysis, and to some extent the same can be said for comedic actors. The class-clowns of Hollywood like Will Ferrell are often times constructed as being nothing more than amusing, so they seem like a simple case study.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Hiding behind humor can be a serious problem; it can not be the only way of expressing our emotions. Some of the greatest comedians have been secretly depressed. Using humor as a defense mechanism can be a serious mental health issue.